To: World Leaders in Paris
We are Canada’s Energy Citizens, a community of thousands of Canadians who support our country’s energy industry.
As you gather to discuss the world’s pressing climate challenge, we want you to know that we believe that environmental stewardship and a thriving energy industry are not mutually exclusive. We stand for the protection of both, and we urge you to do the same over the next few weeks.
As Canadians and as supporters of our country’s oil and natural gas industry, we share your concern about our planet’s climate challenge. Our industry developed the technology to get the oil out of the sand, and it will develop the technology to take carbon out of the barrel.
As a global energy leader, Canada is uniquely positioned to provide safe, secure and reliable energy here at home, and to the world. At the same time, our industry is taking concrete steps, investing more than $1 billion into innovative technologies to reduce GHG emissions.
As Canada’s Energy Citizens, we believe that in our generation, we can make our industry the high-tech environmental leader of the world. Already, our industry:
Has reduced per barrel greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent since 1990,
Puts a premium on recycling water and reduced fresh water use, and
Restores all land affected by operations in order to maintain biodiversity.
We have made progress on the environment without losing sight of the importance of a healthy energy industry. We are looking for your commitment to continuing down that path together.
As you work to reach a new international agreement on climate, we urge you to be mindful of finding balanced and realistic solutions to the global climate challenge.
Signed,
Canada’s Energy Citizens
